February 5, 2009

Letters To Leaders
by Lee Davis, AP for C&I

Letters To Leaders is an initiative collecting messages to the elected officials of Texas. Devine Intermediate students from Ms. Bales’ fifth grade classes participated in this initiative. The letter writing initiative is to remind our elected officials to remember the children of Texas when making their decisions. Our children cannot vote but they certainly matter for the future of the state.

On February 4, 2009, the letters sent from the students of Texas will be delivered to the Capitol and given to the appropriate official. The initiative wants the officials to promise to keep Texas a safe place for its citizens, be sure that education thrives, support health issues for the children of the state, empower the youth to solve tomorrow’s problems, and provide a loving and secure place to grow. It is a nonpartisan campaign. With the letters, the students will have a chance to “virtually” be at the Capitol on February 4, 2009.

The letters were sent on January 23, 2009 to Christina Sinatra, Communications Director for the Texans Care For Children Organization. We received the following message from her:

“Thank you so much for participating in this project! Your students’ letters were poignant and bright and a breath of fresh air. You are clearly doing a great job with your classes. We will forward your letters to the respective elected officials in the U.S. Congress and Texas Legislature next week.

Additionally, I am planning to share a handful of the letters from your class with all the state legislators to highlight some of your students’ beautiful letters on issues within the state’s purview. “

Thank you students and Ms. Bales for taking the time to make a difference in Texas for all of us.